Between the settlements of Sigri, Antissa and Eresos, the men’s monastery of Agios Ioannis built on the highest peak of western Lesbos, Ordymnos – hence its name, stands tall like a military observatory overlooking the western part of the island. Its fortress architecture creates from the beginning the impression that the place functioned throughout history as a defensive fortress, which offered shelter to the inhabitants of the surrounding area.
The monastery is said to have been founded before 800 AD. and it was known by the name of “Korakos” because of its location or “Zysyros”, a name which is connected to the phrase “Zei Syros” which was used by the inhabitants of the surrounding area to indicate the presence of a monk from Syria, the who abandoned there. Another tradition associates the monastery with the Byzantine empress Irene Athenaia and the holy Theophanes, who were exiled to Sigriani, during the iconoclasm disputes, thus identifying the aforementioned area with Sigri.
The catholicon of the monastery is dedicated to the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian. Opinions differ regarding its construction or reconstruction, as its current form according to a wall inscription is probably the work of 1834, while based on another older inscription the year of its construction is 1101, without any other corroborating evidence. In 1967, a fire burned its interior and since then, after the restoration of the damage, the church was converted into a single-aisled basilica from a three-aisled one with a wooden roof and an inner dome.
The cemetery church of All Saints, built in 1695 according to a relief inscription and with hagiographies from 1684, is highly valuable and of historical importance.
Over time the monastery goes through various periods of prosperity and decline, situations determined by historical circumstances and events. Its financial situation, the looting of pirates, the capture of property and robberies during the Ottoman rule stripped the monastery of its treasures. Subsequently, large fires (1875 & 1967) and strong earthquakes (1890) caused irreparable damage to its buildings.
The monastery has a great historical library, in which manuscript codices, scrolls, accounts, old books, letters, firmans, wills, sales and other documents and forms of old times (1535 – 1845) are treasured. And in its museum are preserved early Christian architectural elements, valuable historical art objects, gold-embroidered vestments, reliquaries with holy relics, portable icons, sacred utensils and antimensia, which cover the period 1588 to 1825. Perhaps the oldest exhibit of the museum is a tombstone , which comes from the remains of a neighboring Byzantine settlement. Two engraved laurel wreaths can be seen next to which are the inscriptions “THE MUNICIPALITY”, “THE ROMANS” and the words “PAMPHILE CHRISTE”.
At the beginning of the 17th century it had 15 monks, in 1860 it had 30 monks and 6 priests, in 1905 it had 34, in 1928 it had 20, while today 3 monks are leaving.
